Fall 2015: Where to Pick Your Own Apples in The Montgomery County Area

In just nine days, the first official day of autumn will be here. Along with cooler weather on the horizon, there’s football, hearty soups, raking leaves and maybe a fun outing to one of Pennsylvania’s nearby apple orchards.

A day in an apple orchard is a great way to welcome the new season.

What are you going to do with all those apples? You can eat them for snacks, tuck one into your little one’s lunchbox, bake a pie or cake or make caramel apples.

What kind of apple should you pick? It might depend on what’s available at the orchard you visit, but here’s a little information on different apple varieties, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture:

• Fuji are the best apples if you’ve got limited refrigerator space because you can store Fujis in your basement or your garage. They are slow to ripen so are best picked mid to late October.
• On the other end of the apple spectrum are the Gala apples. Great for pies, sauces, eating and baking, they will only last a few weeks and need to be refrigerated. Because they ripen so early, they are at their prime from mid August to early September.
• If you’re looking for good September apple picking, your best bets are: Macintosh, Honeycrisp, Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Jonalicious, Cortland and Red Delicious.
• Want to make a superb apple pie? Go for the hard York apples because they’ll keep their shape in pies.

Patch recommends you call the orchard before heading out on your picking pilgrimage to be sure the apples you’re hoping to enjoy are ready for the picking.

• Merrymead Farm, 2222 S Valley Forge Rd, Lansdale
• Linvilla Orchards, 137 W Knowlton Rd, Media
• Peace Valley Winery, 300 Old Limekiln Rd, Chalfont
• Solebury Orchards, 3325 Creamery Rd, New Hope
• Tabora Farm & Orchard, 1104 Upper Stump Rd, Chalfont
• Shady Brook Farm, 931 Stony Hill Road, Yardley
• Snipes Farm, 890 W. Bridge Street, Morrisville
• Longview Center for Agriculture, 3215 Stump Hall Road, Collegeville

Regretfully, Willow Creek Orchards in Collegeville is permanently closed.

Know another great spot for apple picking? Send your info to [email protected]